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  1. Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate Special Attack Units (70053) 1:72 Arma Hobby Founded by Chikuhei Nakajima in 1918, the Nakajima Aircraft Company was Japan’s first native manufacturer of aircraft. The company produced a number of successful designs for the Japanese Armed Forces, not least of which was the Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate (Hurricane). Known as the Army Type 4 Fighter in Imperial Japanese Army Air Service, and simply as the ‘Frank’ by the Allies, the Hayate was widely regarded as the best mass-produced Japanese fighter aircraft of the war. The Hayate originated from a design competition instigated by the Air Headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Army for a fighter aircraft assembled around a licence-built version of the liquid-cooled Daimler Benz DB601A engine. Although Nakajima’s design lost out to the Kawasaki Ki-61, many of the lessons learned during the competition were applied to the design of the Ki-84, although the engine didn’t. Powered by an indigenous eighteen-cylinder Nakajima Ha-45-21 radial engine, the Hayate possessed excellent all-round performance including a top speed in excess of 400mph and outstanding manoeuvrability. Unlike many previous Japanese fighter aircraft, it was also fitted with armour and self-sealing fuel tanks, thus enhancing combat survivability. Although an effective fighter, the Ki-84 arrived too late to have much of an effect on the war in the Pacific, even though over 3,500 examples rolled off the production lines. It was plagued by reliability problems throughout its service life, thanks to poor manufacturing and quality control standards late in the war. The Kit This is a reboxing of a brand-new tooling of the Frank from Arma Hobby of Poland, and it arrives in a small end-opening box, which has a dynamic painting of the type on the front, and the decal options on the back. Inside are just two sprues of grey styrene in a resealable bag, clear parts in a Ziploc bag, a sheet of kabuki tape pre-cut masks (not pictured), plus a portrait A5 instruction booklet in colour on glossy paper, with an additional sheet interleaved between the pages. The surface detail is very finely engraved with a clean matt finish to the outside, showing off the recessed panel lines and other raised details to great effect. It’s one of those surfaces that makes it seem a shame to cover it in paint. Construction begins with the cockpit, which is based upon a slightly curved floor onto which the rudder pedals and throttle quadrant are placed, then from beneath, the control column and another lever are pushed through. The rear frame has the seat-frame moulded-in, and unusually for styrene, you are incited to pull the mount out at the bottom to give it the correct slope to fit the seat on later, held in position by a pair of holes in the cockpit floor. The instrument panel is made up on a short frame, and has the main panel and an integrated side panel, both of which have decals provided to detail them up. Incidentally, colour call-outs are given in blue circles that correspond to a table on the front of the booklet that gives colour names, plus Hataka, AK RealColor, MRP, AMMO, Mr. Color, Vallejo and Tamiya codes to give pretty comprehensive coverage of brands. The two frames are added to the floor and joined by the seat, which has a pair of lap-belts included on the decal sheet, and another dial decal for an instrument embedded in the floor. Before the cockpit can be glued into the fuselage, a styrene throttle quadrant is added to the ribbed sidewall. The engine is also required before the fuselage can be closed, and this is built from two rows of nine-cylinders, a two-part push-rod assembly at the front, and axle that pushes through the bell-housing at the front. A scrap diagram shows the correct location of the pins on the engine and the holes in the fuselage into which they locate once it’s painted in the port fuselage half along with the cockpit and the tail-wheel, which should also be painted per the scrap diagram. Turning to the wings, the lower is full-width, and has the top two halves placed on top after drilling out holes for the bomb mounts, the uppers having the main gear bays moulded-in. The fuselage is inserted into the gap, and a cowling insert covers the top of the engine with moulded-in gun troughs, while at the rear the elevators are glued into the tail using the usual slot and tab method. Underneath is the two-part chin intake, while the rest of the cowling underside is inserted along with the finely shaped intake lip. The canopy is placed into position over an insert that depends on whether you plan on building your kit with open or closed canopy. Additional diagrams show their location and where the glazing parts fit accordingly, and when to open a small hole in the side. Before installation of the inserts the gunsight and some stencil decals should be fitted into the interior of the surround after painting. There are pre-cut masks included for the canopy, although they’re not documented. It isn’t exactly difficult to figure it out though, so no problem! The main landing gear legs are supplied as single struts with a captive door on the outer, and a wheel with masks on the short perpendicular axle at the bottom. The inner bay doors have good contact points and fit on the inner edge of the bays, with a pair of smaller doors on the retractable tail-wheel, and twin bomb-shackles under each wing, to accommodate either long-range tanks or 250kg bombs that are included in the box. The fuel tanks also have decals for the details on the top side. The remaining parts go to make up the cooling flaps with the separate exhausts protruding from within, the gun barrels and clear landing light in the wing leading-edge; pitot probe in the port wing, an aerial mast on the spine, and the four-blade prop that is covered in the centre by a curved spinner cap. Markings There are three markings options on the decal sheet, and they offer substantially different looks due mostly to their unit and personal markings, depending on which one you choose. From the box you can build one of the following: Pilot: Tadashi Kono, 57 Shimbu-tai, Miyakonojo Airfield, Kyushu, Japan, 1945 Pilot: Lt Toku Ueda, 58 Shimbu-tai, Miyakonojo Airfield, Kyushu, Japan, 1945 Pilot: Lt Fujiyama Nobuho, 195 Shimbu-tai, Awaji, Yura Airfield, Japan, 1945 Decals are by Techmod, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion This is a good-looking kit of the type with some interesting decal options, and if it wasn’t 1:72, it would have made it onto my bench later today. It’s an excellent kit that should allow the modeller to build a great replica of this powerful late war Japanese fighter in some fancy markings. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  2. Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate Expert Set (70051) 1:72 Arma Hobby Founded by Chikuhei Nakajima in 1918, the Nakajima Aircraft Company was Japan’s first native manufacturer of aircraft. The company produced a number of successful designs for the Japanese Armed Forces, not least of which was the Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate (Hurricane). Known as the Army Type 4 Fighter in Imperial Japanese Army Air Service, and simply as the ‘Frank’ by the Allies, the Hayate was widely regarded as the best mass-produced Japanese fighter aircraft of the war. The Hayate originated from a design competition instigated by the Air Headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Army for a fighter aircraft assembled around a licence-built version of the liquid-cooled Daimler Benz DB601A engine. Although Nakajima’s design lost out to the Kawasaki Ki-61, many of the lessons learned during the competition were applied to the design of the Ki-84, although the engine didn’t. Powered by an indigenous eighteen-cylinder Nakajima Ha-45-21 radial engine, the Hayate possessed excellent all-round performance including a top speed in excess of 400mph and outstanding manoeuvrability. Unlike many previous Japanese fighter aircraft, it was also fitted with armour and self-sealing fuel tanks, thus enhancing combat survivability. Although an effective fighter, the Ki-84 arrived too late to have much of an effect on the war in the Pacific, despite the fact that over 3,500 examples rolled off the production lines. It was plagued by reliability problems throughout its service life, thanks to poor manufacturing and quality control standards late in the war. The Kit This is a brand-new tooling of the Frank from Arma Hobby of Poland, and it arrives in a smaller end-opening box, which has a nice painting of the type on the front, and the decal options on the back. Inside are just two sprues of grey styrene in a resealable bag, clear parts in a Ziploc bag, another Ziploc containing a fret of Photo-Etch (PE) and some pre-cut masks, plus a portrait A5 instruction booklet in colour on glossy paper. I’ll hold up my hand to being a 1:48 modeller by nature, and yet again I’m impressed with the detail that Arma have packed into this model. It makes me fervently wish they did more in my preferred scale. A fella can dream, eh? The surface detail is very finely engraved with a clean matt finish to the outside, showing off the recessed panel lines and other raised details to great effect. It’s one of those surfaces that makes it seem a shame to cover it in paint. Construction begins with the cockpit, which is based upon a slightly curved floor onto which the rudder pedals and throttle quadrant are placed, then from beneath, the control column and another stick are pushed through. The rear frame has the seat-frame moulded-in, and unusually for styrene, you are incited to pull the mount out at the bottom to give it the correct slope to fit the seat on later, held in position by a pair of holes in the cockpit floor. The instrument panel is made up on a short frame, and has the main panel and an integrated side panel, both of which have decals provided to detail them up. Incidentally, colour call-outs are given in blue circles that correspond to a table on the front of the booklet that gives colour names, plus Hataka, AK RealColor, MRP, AMMO, Mr. Color, and Tamiya codes to give pretty comprehensive coverage of brands. The two frames are added to the floor and joined by the seat, which has a pair of lap-belts included on the PE sheet, and another dial decal for an instrument embedded in the floor. Before the cockpit can be glued into the fuselage, a number of PE and styrene parts are added to the ribbed sidewalls, and for one decal option, there is a small recess in the outer skin that should be drilled and filled before proceeding. The engine is also required before the fuselage can be closed up, and this is built from two rows of nine-cylinders, a two-part push-rod assembly at the front, and axle that pushes through the PE wiring loom and the bell-housing at the front. A scrap diagram shows the correct locations for each of the many wires sprouting from the loom. Once it’s painted it is slotted into the port fuselage half along with the cockpit and the tail-wheel, which should also be painted per the scrap diagram. Turning to the wings, the lower is full-width, and has the top two halves placed on top, which have the main gear bays moulded-in. The fuselage is inserted into the gap, and a cowling part covers the top of the engine with moulded-in gun troughs, while at the rear the elevators are glued into the tail using the usual slot and tab method. Underneath is a choice of two styles of chin intake, with PE grilles for the front of either one, while the rest of the cowling underside is inserted along with the intake lip. The canopy is placed into position over an insert that depends on whether you plan on building your kit with open or closed canopy. Additional diagrams show their location and where the glazing parts fit accordingly, and each of them need a small hole drilling in the side, again as per the diagrams. Before installation of the inserts the gunsight and some stencil decals should be fitted into the surround after painting. There are pre-cut masks included for the canopy, although they’re not numbered. It isn’t exactly difficult to figure it out though, so no problem! The main landing gear legs are supplied as single struts with a captive door on the outer, and a wheel with masks on the short perpendicular axle at the bottom. The inner bay doors have good contact points and fit on the inner edge of the bays, with a pair of smaller doors on the retractable tail-wheel, and twin bomb-shackles under each wing, to accommodate either long-range tanks, 100kg or 250kg bombs that are included in the box. The smaller bombs have a little wedge moulded into the perpendicular fins to help with handling during painting, and they should be nipped off and painted over once complete. The fuel tanks also have decals for the details on the top side. The remaining parts go to make up the cooling flaps with the separate exhausts protruding from within, the gun barrels in the wing leading-edge; pitot probe, an aerial mast on the spine, and the four-blade prop that is covered in the centre by a curved spinner cap. Markings There are a generous six options on the decal sheet, and they offer substantially different looks, depending on which one you choose. From the box you can build one of the following: Ki-84 Otsu (4x20mm cannon), 104 Sentai, Ota Air Base, Japan, Aug 1945 Ki-84 Ko S.n. 1446, 2 CHutai 11 Sentai, Philippines, 1944/5 Ki-84 Ko, 10. Rensai Hikotai (OTU), Lt. Takana, Japan, Spring 1945 Ki-84 Ko, 3 Chutai 47 Sentai, Japanese Home Defence Forces, Ctp. Haneto Narimasu Airfield, Feb 1945 Ki-84 Ko, 57 Shimbu-tai, Mijokonojo Air Base, Kyushu, Japan, Battle of Okinawa, May 1945 Ki-84 Ko, 2. Yuso Hikotai, Lt. Shuho Yamana, Saigon, Summer, 1944 Decals are by Techmod, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion This is a good-looking kit of the type, and if it wasn’t 1:72, it would have made it onto my bench later today. The Expert Set is a well-rounded boxing that should allow the modeller to build a great replica of this powerful late war Japanese fighter without having to resort to aftermarket. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of
  3. Ki-84 | Hasegawa | 1/72 47th Sentai, 1st Chutai, Narimasu, 1945 Finished this on 9/14/2021. This was a kit that I built in college as a bare metal Frank, but since I didn't know how to do bare metal finishes, it was just a spray-bombed Testors silver. Recently I bought a new Frank and finished it in the same bare metal finish. I then disassembled this kit and stripped the paint off and rebuilt it as the other scheme in the instructions. I didn't have hinamaru decals, so I painted all the national markings and the walkway stripes on the wings. The color combination was not the one specified in the instructions, but one based on more recent research that I read about on the Aviation of Japan blog. Not much to say about this. I scratchbuilt some cockpit components, which was probably a waste since the opening in the fuselage is so small. It may not be a restoration on the scale that @Brigbeale does, but it was nice to breathe new life into this kit. Finishing: CA filled gaps Paint: Mr. Color Olive Drab (112) top, 10 parts Mr. color Gray Green (128) to 3 parts Mr. color Olive Drab (112) bottom. Testors Insignia Red Hinamaru, Mr. Color 311 for the "bandages" around the Hinamaru. WIP is here Since it was a restoration, here's what it looked like before I disassembled it and stripped the paint: . Hope you like it! Questions, comments and constructive criticism always welcome!
  4. My next build is a kit that I've had for only a year or two, and its one I've done before. When I started college my parents gave me a bunch of Hasagawa Japanese fighter kits for Christmas. the Frank, Jack, Zero, George, Tojo and Tony. I built all but the Tojo and Tony soon after Christmas. That was about the time when I was getting into weathering and starting to use the airbrush again. I wasn't using filler yet, but with these Hasagawa kits, the seams were very good, so that was OK. Even though they aren't up to my current standards, I have never felt the need to replace them. They look pretty good on the shelf and I'm still proud of what I was able to do with my skills at the time. Except the Frank. Don't get me wrong... I did a pretty good job on it, but I new nothing about bare metal finishes back then. So a spray can of silver and zip, zap, painting was done! Now I look at it on the shelf and think, "imagine how that would look if I used what I know now about NMF!" Well, imagine no longer... I bought another copy of the kit so I could do just that, and I plan to strip the old one and do the alternate paint scheme in the instructions. Here's the requisite parts tree shot: It's a simple kit. So what is my plan? First off, after my successful panel line treatment in my last build, I thought I might try it on this kit, since it has raised panel lines. But a test last night on the metal paint I plan to use was a complete bust. Also, scribing the lines is a no-go with my skills. However, with my F-80C and my Oscar I found that leaving the raised panel lines in NMF tricks the eye into thinking they're engraved. A bit of a disappointment after my last build, but I hope the NMF will make everyone forget about the panel lines. Originally, when I got the kit I was going to follow the metal shades on the box artwork since I was having a hard time turning up original photos of the Ki-84. Since then I have found a few photos--especially of the captured US Ki-84 which was bare metal--and found that the panels in the artwork are accurate. Lookng at Japanese types in WWII, I don't see them being very polished, so I will go with a base coat of decanted Tamiya TS-30 Silver leaf, which made an excellent base for my Oscar. The darker panels will probably be Mr. color metal stainless steel and the lighter panels Alclad white aluminum. These are the same paints I used on the Oscar and they looked great together (before they were covered over with IJA green splotches). I started off this morning with the cockpit. A simple affair that will likely not be seen. I looked at my old Frank and the cockpit opening is pretty small and it takes a flashlight to see anything in there. Still, I will probably dress up the seat a bit and fab up some seatbelts. I've taken to building the cockpit before painting if it's a simple enough cockpit (so, I won't be doing this with Eduard spitfires!). I find it's much easier to glue and much easier to paint too. More later...
  5. Here's my second build for the Group Build. I'm doing a 1/48 Hasegawa Ki-84 Hayate. This is one of the finest Hasegawa kits I've ever done. A nicely detailed cockpit, very fine surface details, excellent fit so far. Even the kit decals look nice, although I won't be using them. I got two aftermarket sheets for it, one from Berna and one from Rising Decals, both with some options that fit the time period of this GB. I am taking some guess work with the cockpit color, as it turns out they had probably three different colours, depending on when they were built. Aotake (that metallic blue-ish stuff) on early ones, a dark green on middle ones, and natural metal on late ones. As I have no idea when mine was built, I decided to go with the green colour, and pretend it is correct. Nobody will notice it anyway. I used Tamiya's Japanese Army Green for it. The seat (not fitted yet) comes with a comfy looking cushion, which isn't correct, but I'll just leave it on. This thing must have been an ergonomic nightmare, as there are levers and controls everywhere, even the guns stick out the firewall in front of the instrument panel, just like the A6M.
  6. This is my eighth completion for 2019, the Hasgawa 1/32 Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate which went under the Allied reporting name of 'Frank'. It represents an aircraft of the 101st Sentai based either at Taisho Airbase near Osaka, at the end of the war, or at Miyakonojo Airbase on Kyushu Island in June 1945; most sources state the latter. This is one of Hasegawa's older 'new tool' kits dating from 2004, and its' age is apparent when compared to the Ki-44 kit that I finished last, it is a bit more clunky and primitive-feeling, but it went together very well and was a pleasure to build. I did use a bit of aftermarket on it, namely the Profimodeller brass guns and pitot tube and the Mastercasters wheels and exhaust outlets. I also used the Eduard mask set for the canopy. Oh, and I swapped the pilot's head for one from the Ki-44 kit that I hadn't used as the moulding and detail was better. I'm not in the habit of building my models with the flaps deployed but Hasegawa did not give me the choice this time. For the paint scheme I first gave the model an overall coat of Alclad, to which masking tape, salt and masking fluid was added with the aim of reproducing (as closely as possible, anyway) this scheme. Not only is there evidence of extensive flaking of the camouflage, but some panels around the cockpit look to have bare-metal replacements. In fact I have no idea if the aircraft actually flew in this condition, as the picture was pretty certainly taken in an aircraft 'graveyard' and could have been abandoned half-repaired. In my favour is the fact that almost certainly nobody else knows either. The uppersurfaces were painted in Colourcoats ACJ22 - IJAAF #7 Ohryoku nana go shoku with the anti-glare panel painted in Vallejo Black Grey. The undersides were painted in a mixture of the uppersurface colour and white paint, which was probably how they actually painted the underside of aircraft finished in this colour. I used the kit transfers, despite my reservations that the Hinomaru and their white outlines were supplied as separate transfers; Hasegawa transfers do have a reputation for being a bit thick but they turned out okay anyway and the stencils etc. all went down well with no silvering. For the final touches the navigation lights (which are moulded opaquely on the wings and tail, but are also supplied as clear parts if you trim off the originals) were painted in Tamiya Clear Red and Blue, and the R/T antenna wire was made from Infini White Lycra thread, the 120 Denier version, attached with Bob's Buckles eyelets. I'm actually very pleased with how it turned out, it was a nice easy build and it kept me out of trouble for a few weeks Thanks for dropping by Cheers, Stew
  7. Hi, Next vintage model from my shelvs - Nakajima Ki 84 Ia Hayate in Allies code - Frank. This is very old Revell kit made actually twice by me sometime before 1978 (when I've got a breake in modelling due to start intesive dating...) I did the model very early (about 1973 or 74 perhaps, so I was let say 14-15) but then after a few years I immersed it in NaOH and removed all paint (using no gloves what was a bit painfull then - a skin below nails was breaking...), gently separate parts and glue it again and then painted it again. This "recycling" was because models were not easily available in Poland those years. Me and my brother were in better position regarding our collegues - our Grandfather lived in London and this was our source of models, but they were still very precious, so if you were not satisfied - you were recycling them because buying was not easy . I recycled many of my early models this way. And some of them I still have. Going back to model - the painting scheme is from 183 Shimbu Tai, Tatebayashi, August 1945 (? - whatever it is ). The profile, I followed, was published in some book like "Encyclopedy of airpalanes" or something like that. Now in net I have found very similar profile but with number 55 instead of 117. Before posting it I replaced the decals on wings which were in bad shape and added some fresh varnish obviously after very gently washing all over using brush and water. Comments welcome and regards Jerzy-Wojtek
  8. This is my most recent completion, Sword's Ki-84. I like the Frank a lot, it has clean lines and good looks, a true fighter aircraft. Some years ago I built Hasegawa's excellent but dated kit, and I've been looking for an opportunity to build another one. When I came across Sword's pre-production version (I believe the c variant), I had to have it. Sword's kit is a popular candidate for best short run kit in these great 'What is the best xx-scale kit?' topics. As such I was curious to see how well it built. I found it to be a typical modern short run kit - nice detail, good use of resin parts (engine and wheel bay) but also somewhat spurious fit in areas (gun cover, engine cowling, wing root). All in all it built rather well but due to general hamfistedness it did take me a bit longer to complete than it should have. I drilled through the top of the wing when widening the locating holes for the gear... not my finest hour. None of the kit's issues are difficult to resolve, the only slightly problematic area is the canopy; this seems to be a bit wider than the cockpit area it sits on, resulting in a small step. I filled this with Perfect Plastic Putty but it's still noticeable, especially when compared to Hasegawa's old but perfectly-fitting kit. Sword gives you a choice of two color schemes, an unpainted aluminium plane and a 'Medium brown' with green mottling. I visited Nick Millman's blog 'Aviation of Japan' to get a line on the shade of brown I needed, and using the color swatches I found I created my own using some RAF Dark Earth as a base, mixed with Tamiya Red Brown and Olive Drab. This was applied over a coating of Humbrol Metalcote Polished Aluminium. The mottling was sprayed using Tamiya's IJA Green. I used some IJA Grey for the control surfaces, but I feel the shade is too green when I look at it now - if someone can verify what this shade should look like I'd love to hear it. Sword's decals worked well but the set has one curious omission. It appears that the lines around the front and rear of the wings are red on an unpainted surface and yellow on camouflaged surfaces. Sword provides sufficient red decals to do to the unpainted variant, but for the camouflaged variant the yellow lines around the front of the wing are missing. I stole these from a Hasegawa sheet I have, but this created another problem, a mismatch between the yellow shades of the lines. In the end I therefore used all Hasegawa decals. After decaling I saw that the yellow on the wing leading edge had a decidedly greener tint than the rather orangey yellow of the lines. Oh well. I was going to weather the plane quite severely, to try out some new techniques, then realized it was in use with a test squadron, and thought better of it - I suppose these guys must have taken some care of their mounts and/or wouldn't have used it for long. I picked some W&N water colors to apply a wash, a toothpick to scratch the paint around some of the panels in order to allow the bare metal to show through, and a combination of pastels and washes to create some staining. I used a couple of minor after-market items on this build; canopy mask by Eduard, tubing for the pitot and gun barrels from Albion Alloys, a lens for the landing light from Little Cars and EZ-line type thread from some eBay seller. In summary, a satisfying result from what is undoubtedly a very good kit of this important and beautiful aircraft. It joins its nemesis, the F6F, in my growing collection of 'Hellcats over the Pacific' - inspired builds.
  9. Nakajima Ki-84 Type 4 Fighter Hayate (Frank) 1:48 Hasegawa History "Forget it - it's a Frank." It is said that this comment was made frequently by USAAF personnel watching radar screens on Okinawa in the closing weeks of the Pacific War. It was customary to watch for a contact to appear and then to scramble P-51 Mustangs to intercept the enemy aircraft. But when the blip was moving so fast that it was inferred to be one of the advanced new Japanese Hayate fighters it would be assumed that the P-51s would stand no chance of catching the intruder. Generally regarded as the best Japanese fighter of World War Two, the Hayate, (Hurricane) was nonetheless not without its problems. Much of its superlative all-round performance stemmed from its extremely advanced direct-injection engine, the Army's first version of the Navy NK9A. Yet this same engine gave constant trouble and demanded skilled maintenance. T. Koyama designed the Ki-84 to greater strength factors than any previous Japanese warplane - yet poor heat-treatment of high-strength steel had the consequence that the landing gears often snapped. Progressive deterioration in quality control meant that pilots never knew how individual aircraft would perform, whether the brakes would work, and even whether - in attempting to intercept B-29 Superfortresses over Japan - they would be able to climb high enough. Despite these problems the Hayate was essentially a superb fighter - a captured Ki-84-1a was to out climb and outmanoeuvre a P-47 Thunderbolt, and a P-51. The first batches were sent to China, where the 22nd. Sentai, when equipped with the new fighter, were able to fly rings around Chennault's 14th Air Force. The 22nd Sentai was later moved to the Philippines, where problems overtook them, with many accidents and shortages and extremely poor serviceability. Frequent bombing of the Musashi engine factory, and the desperate need to conserve raw materials (the shortages resulting primarily from the American submarine blockade) led to various projects and prototypes made of wood or steel. Total production of the Ki-84 still reached 3,514, showing the importance of the design to the Japanese forces. The Model Originally released in 2000 this is another example of Hasegawas superb mould design and upkeep. Inside the very attractive box, with a very nice painting of a Ki84 flying solo above the clouds, are seven sprues of medium grey styrene and one of clear, along with 8 grey and 4 black poly caps. From reading reviews of the day and researching the type, the kit was very well regarded as almost, but not quite the perfect model kit being both accurate and nicely detailed. I see no reason why this has changed with this release, so expect it to be a fun and enjoyable build. There are only nine build sequences in the instructions and as is the norm the build begins with the cockpit. The cockpit floor is fitted out with more levers, apart from the regulation joystick, than seems appropriate for a single seat fighter, but, whatever the real on looks like the seven included in the kit are certainly well represented, also fitted are the centre lower console and rudder pedals. To the now well populated floor the seat is attached, followed by the front and rear bulkheads, instrument panel with decal instruments, upper cannon breeches, and sidewalls, each kitted out with further controls and black boxes pre moulded and in need of some careful detail painting. The completed cockpit is then fitted to one half of the fuselage and with a poly cap in the tail wheel position the fuselage can be closed up. The lower wing is then fitted with five poly caps in the bomb and drop tank positions. The upper wing panels are then attached to eh lower wing, with the landing light fitted to the port side. The wing, single piece horizontal tailplanes and two part rudder are then attached to the fuselage completing the mainframe. The kits gives alternative main wheels, and some research should be carried out as only the later style should be used and the instructions don’t make it clear which is which. The single piece tyres have separate inner and outer hubs, with the inner one fitted with a poly can and the outer one with an unidentifiable part. The completed wheels are then attached to the oleo along with the main gear door. The engine is quite a simple single piece affair, but with the close cowl not much will be seen anyway. The engine is attached to the firewall onto which the multiple exhausts are also attached. The gearbox housing is in three parts, well four if you include the attachment ring and this is fitted to the front of the engine, the gearbox housing also accommodates another poly cap, whilst just above the housing an intake is fitted. The completed engine is the slid into the cowling and attached to the front of the fuselage. There is another intake, in three parts fitted on the centreline at the join where the cowling meets the forward lower fuselage. Flipping the model over the main undercarriage is attached, along with the inner bay doors and their respective retraction actuators, whilst to the rear the tailwheel is slotted into the previously fitted poly cap and finished off with the attachment of the two bay doors. The drop tank crutches, landing light cover, pitot probe, foot step and wing cannon barrels are all fitted along with the three piece oil cooler which is fitted under the starboard wing root. Check the orientation of the cooler as when first released the instructions showed this to be fitted the wrong way round and it cannot be presumed that Hasegawa have changed this. The individual navigation lights above and below each wing tip and either side of the fin are then attached. The three piece drop tanks are then assembled and slotted into position into the poly cap held within the wing. The flaps are separate items and can be posed up or down as per the modellers wishes. Turning the model over onto its wheels the gunsight, four piece head rest are attached before the windscreen, sliding canopy and fixed canopy sections are all fitted. The last operation is the assembly of the propeller, which consists of the single piece four bladed prop, axle pin and spinner; this is then slid into the poly cap within the gearbox housing completely the build. Decals Hasegawas own decals are well printed with very good density/opacity, no sign of carrier film on any of the decals, including the wing walk areas which would normally cause a problem, and in good register. They are slightly matt but thin and should settle down well. The modeller may wish to leave some of the markings off, such as the yellow leading edges and paint them instead. The decals provide markings for two aircraft, both in olive drab over grey-green, these are:- Ki84 No.62 flown by Capt. Shigeru Tsuruta of the Hitachi Flight Training squadron from June 1945. Ki84 No.762 flown by Capt. Yasuro Masaki, of the Hitachi Flight Training squadron from June 1945. Conclusion This is another welcome re-release from Hasegawa, and from reading build reviews from earlier releases it should be a fun and rewarding experience. It should make for a nice weekend build, or one to get the mojo going again after a difficult build of a lay off. Whatever the reason for building, it will be a nice addition to the collection, particularly if you're into Japanese aircraft. Very highly recommended Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for
  10. This is one of my latest models. This is a kit I avoided during a long time because it looked too similar to the Tojo, George, etc. But finally, and as I am running out of different models to build, I ended up buying it. I got the old "super-rivetted" Revell version, which makes it look something american, with so many rivets. I decided for this bronze-brown camouflage, as it escapes from the usual japo green that bores me so much. The kanjis on the fuselage have been hand-painted. What I like from this model is the sensation of sturdyness it has, and the door to show the motor is very welcome too. You can see more pics here; http://toysoldierchest.blogspot.com/2013/06/nakajima-ki-84-1a-hayate-frank-revell.html
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